Jobless benefits may be going down this month, but Tennessee is seeking to maximize what it pays unemployed persons by tapping into a new federal relief fund to make up for half of the drop in federal supplemental benefits.
But it’s unclear when or how long those benefits could be coming for jobless Tennesseans.
The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development is applying to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to receive grant funding to pay up to $300 a week in additional federal supplemental weekly unemployment benefits on top of the state maximum benefit payment of $275 a week.
The new Lost Wages Assistance program (LWA) is only half of the previous $600 weekly supplement the federal government provided jobless claimants until the end of July and Tennessee is not providing the extra $100 state match that President Trump initially touted as a means to help substitute for much of the previous federal jobless benefit supplement that expired at the end of last month.
But the initiative, if approved by FEMA, will allow Tennesseans who qualify for jobless benefits to get up to $575 a week, including the state maximum of $275 per week plus the new $300 weekly federal supplement.